Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Greater New Orleans

Change Region

comments

Deputies greeted by pot plant at front door in marijuana bust

Josh Washington.jpg

Josh Washington, 62, was arrested and booked with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute after authorities say the found 38 marijuana plants and 130 grams of pot in his Old Jefferson home.
(Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office)

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies who responded to an anonymous tip of a marijuana grow house in Old Jefferson got a bit of confirmation before they even knocked: marijuana planted next to the front door. A search turned up 37 more marijuana plants and almost 130 grams of pot in the house, located at 156 Rencopas Court, they reported.

Authorities arrested the man they say cultivated the illicit crop, 62-year-old Josh Washington. A tipster dialed up the Sheriff's Office 911 center on Tuesday to report a man named "Josh" was growing marijuana in the house, according to Col. John Fortunato, spokesman for the sheriff's office.

Deputies stopped by the house about 2:45 p.m. spotted the first plant in a pot by some shrubbery, Fortunato said. Washington opened the door and signed a consent to search the home, the arrest report said.

Investigators found marijuana plants inside the home and in the yard. They found drying stalks hanging upside down inside of a hall closet as well as lights and a power source in a bedroom, the arrest report said. Deputies also found a scale, plastic bags, plant food and smoking devices.

Washington was booked Tuesday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna with possession of marijuana, drug possession with the intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was still being held there on a $26,000 bond.